Hi John......let me get this out of the way first. Yes...I play accordion, piano, and synthesizer. Love them all in different ways. The accordion......just what you said..."pure" and "real." Let me add to that. "A major vehicle for expression (the bellows)" Between the accordion and the piano....I get (in this present emotionless world) every emotion out of me that I need to. I often thank my Higher Power that I have those outlets.

Now.......I have to thank you for your interest in what I had to say. It ended up helping ME.....bringing up the subject. I suddenly realized that I'm not "practicing what I'm preaching" as much as I used to. So I sat at the piano, and.........concentrated.....on the right hand and I began practicing "the method" doing arpeggios with my left hand. The improvement in my playing in only one week has been amazing. I'm hoping now that I have the time to carry on with the "concentration."

Mark

Hi Giovanni,

"it's a small world" is understating it. I didn't know you knew John! John was the most influential person in my whole music career. If it wasn't for my chance meeting with him, I never would have gotten anywhere with music and would probably have ended up being a street-cleaner somewhere in Merry Olde England!

John encouraged me on the accordion, gave me my first job (in Richmond), my first British girl friend, my first musette accordion, etc. And the sad part was that he never knew he did so much for me......he was very busy with his own stuff. I telephoned him about 10 years ago to thank him for "changing my life around for the better," and......he didn't even remember me.

I'm guessing I know Andy. I DO remember Arthur Young, George Barton, Valentino and a host of others you probably know also.

You reminded me of WHO introduced me to French Musette music. It was John. He would play it effortlessly on this customized Sonola he had Arthur Young modify. I would sit there and listen to him for hours. One day he asked me if I wanted to buy that accordion for 200 Pounds. I jumped on it.....no second thoughts. I was the happiest man in the world at that point. The best French sounding accordion I ever had. I went everywhere with it. I still have it to this day sitting in my bedroom.

Funny event here.......John was dating (?) a dolly bird at the time who I thought was a knockout. Again...one day he says to me "would you like to take her off my hands?" Yes, was my answer. I did so for the next three months. You didn't have to ask me twice!

Then he was doing a German job in Richmond and he asked me to fill in for him. My first British gig and the start of my British music career.

I wonder today where I'd really be had I not met John. Trust me, wherever John is now (in the afterlife) he's kicking up a storm about something. He was a really colorful guy. We spent a lot of time together, but, in retrospect, not ENOUGH time!

I considered him my best friend (and mentor) for the longest time. I'm really sorry to hear about his passing. Didn't know much about his family as John was either very private or he just never had the time to talk about them.

Above all, Giovanni, I want to thank you for opening this topic up. It's been a wonderful trip for me down Memory Lane thinking about those days. And......they were darned GOOD days!

Oh yes, the method I'm always talking about. It was taught to me at 18 years of age by a world-renowned accordion player/composer that I was studying with. When I asked him WHY it worked, his answer was simple. He didn't know....it was taught to HIM. But he said the important thing is that it DID work, if done correctly. I since found out that it's the simplest thing in the world to do physically, but the hardest thing ever to understand it mentally. Once you do (and it took me YEARS) it's a cakewalk from there.

Your friend,

Mark

Hi Mark , thank you for your reply and also for putting up the youtube attachment ...I can open it up just fine I'll study it when I get the right moment .
I'm glad you had a good trip down the lane of " ye merry old England " as you say it was a wonderful era !! it has all changed !! and not for the better .
Valentino (aka Jackie Farn)and I have been very good friends since I first met him in Great Yarmouth Norfolk where he was appearing at the Wellington Theatre end of Pier show for the summer season ,with Frank Ifield (I remember you hit song )and Roy Hudd comedy . Valentino knocked me out with his stage presence and the playing of the special Cordovox accordion .it was indeed an awesome sound never ever heard another Cordovox sound as good as his custom built machine .
I actually got to play it many many times at his home and also in the wellington pier theatre when it was closed and he was the only one sitting right at the back of the theatre , listening to me !!I could not believe the truly fantastic sound it produced .it's an experience that has never left me .
Yes you are correct wonderful times wonderful memories .

I'm in regular contact with Valentino he is keeping well and plays his grand piano very day .

His wife Lynn (stage name Sheba)were a fantastic double act and toured the world with their cabaret act !!!

Hi Mark and Giovanni
Small world isn't it.

Thanks Mark,
I 'll check it out.
Can always do with help.

Left hand arpeggio's was about the only type of piano I could play. Richard Clayderman fan for many years.

It was hard getting used to playing left hand chords or keyboard.

Hi Giovanni....good to hear back from you. I’m wondering if I knew you or interacted with you back in the “John Leslie at his shop” days? I saw John quite often at the period where I bought his customized accordion. I remember him saying he wanted to give me first dibs on purchasing it because he knew I loved playing French musette and how much I loved that accordion and that.....he wanted it to go to a good home. I, in turn, couldn’t figure him out. He loved that accordion as much as I did, and he just.....one day, gave it up!



Yes, by coincidence,a few recent events made me realize that even if I went back, it’s “not the same.” One event was reading from this site about renewing my UK driver license.

British Expats Forum

It seems life there DID take a turn for the worse. Unemployment and housing shortages accompanied by astronomical prices among other things. Can't even get my license renewed without residing there. At least many of the pubs have survived the changes.



Wonderful times, wonderful memories. I’ll never have those wonderful days again but just to relive them, writing something like this, makes me feel warm inside. Those were such great times living in happy and Merry Old England.



I enjoyed your commentary about Valentino. I didn’t know him that long, but I remember we liked and respected each other and talked a lot about the business. I do remember that when I met him, he said he was going to go into hibernation.....back out of entertainment for six months and regroup.....put a different act together (?). I also recall him wearing a red velvet tuxedo in performance mode(?)

I had a lot of respect for him that he cared that much about his audience. I’m really glad to hear he’s still around and apparently everything he did “worked” out for him! He certainly impressed me as a really nice “bloke.”

Now is this the same Valentino?:

[url=[url=https://www.google.com]Valentino - GOOGLE search[/url]

[/video]

Yes, it's an incredibly small world. I'm expecting to run into YOU next. As I recall, all Australians save up their money for one huge trip to the "big city/country". Then they go back home, get married and live out their lives (??).



Rikki......I wish I could explain to you HOW it works, but I'm not even sure myself. But I've been working hard on the method these last few weeks and, again, I've seen improvement.

I WILL say this. You don't need to spend more than 5-10 minutes with it. I do it like this. I'll take a song or progression and play it different ways just holding my fingers down on the keys. Different ways means different variations, different keys, different chord voicing, etc.

But........fast fingers don't translate to great playing. So, if we're talking about the same thing, I wouldn't get too much into it.



I'm guessing you're left-handed.



For me too, coming off of the accordion. It took me a few years before I was totally comfortable looking down at a horizontal keyboard. Nowadays, like yourself, I just love the piano. Once I sit down at it, I can't bring myself to stop. And it's all in the sustain pedal that makes it sound so exquisite (hey.....I like that word!)

Mark

Hi Mark , yes that is the same Valentino that you knew in London !!there are quite a few youtubes of him .if you search wheeltappers and shunters club Valentino you will see him with the cordovox the program was broadcast on the itv channel many years ago and was a popular show , theme was like a traditional working mans social club "up north " as we folks say in the uk .
regarding your original subject "mind power " I find if I want to memorize any music I learn it and memorize it from the keyboard , I have learnt this rather late in life !!! I think it is to do with clearly seeing both hands working , anyway's right or wrong it works for me.....and then I play it on the midi-acoustic accordion . obviously when playing the accordion I rarely look at the treble keyboard and of course it's not possible to see the bass section ... I find that I have remembered all the chords in the left hand as well ...... regards